Fruit-picker.



W. A. GISNE.

FRUIT PICKEB. V APPLIOATION rnfnn June, 1912.

Patented Mall. 17, 19M.

WILLIAM A. CISNE, INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI.

mun-menial Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 1% 191% Applicationfiled m is, 1912. Serial no. am.

,To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. Glenn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Independence in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri,have invented new'and useful Improvements in FruibPickers, of.

which the following is a specification.

An object of the invention is to provide a fruit picker whereby suchfruits as peaches, pears, apples and the like can be readily picked by aperson standing on the ground without injuring the trees or bruising thefruit.

The invention embodies, amon other features, a handle having a pokeorfiiag rigidly mounted on the upper end thereof. a basket provided witha cutting knife being movably mounted and supported on the frame of thepoke or bag and adapted to engage and cut the fruit from the tree, thebasket being then movable into a position over the hood of the poke orbag so that the fruit will pass therein, the basket being preferablyspringengaged to return to initial position each time after the fruithas been conveyed from the basket to the poke,

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, constituting a part of this specification, inwhich similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in allthe views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device showing the basket ininitial position; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through aportion of the basket; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the supporting frameof the poke, the hood having been removed.

Referring more particularly to "the views, use is made of a handle 10having rigidly secured to the upper end thereof a poke frame 11, saidpoke frame being preferably formed of a single piece of band-likematerial bent to form a loop 12, the free ends of the piece of materialbeing spaced apart and constituting supporting members 13, the

extremities of the supporting members being rigidly secured to the upperend of the handle 10 as shown, a suitable poke or bag 14 having theupper end thereof riveted or otherwise secured to the loop 12 of thepoke frame 11 with the upper-extremity of'the poke or bag projectingupwardly beyond the loop to form a head 15, the loop 12 of the pokeframe being spaced from the handle 10 as shown. I y

A basket frame 16 is movably carried by the poke frame 11 and preferablyconsists of a single piece of band-like material bent no to form a loop17 and having the shank 18 thereof interposed between the supportingmembers 13 of the poke frame 11, a suitable pm 19 being passed throughthe supporting members 13 and shank 18 to journal the basket frame 16 onthe poke frame 11, a basket. 20 being secured to the basket frame 16 inany suitable manner with a contractile coiled spring 21 secured to thebasket frame 16 adjacent the basket 20 and to the handle 10 adjacent theupper end thereof, the said spring 21 being adapted to retain the basketframe 16 and basket 20 in initial position as shown in the drawing. Asemi-circular knife 22 is connected to the basket frame 16 by means ofsuitable screws, the said knife having the sharpened portion thereofextending longitudinally to the basket 20 to cut the stem of the fruitwhen it,is desired to sever the fruit from the tree. A cord 23 issecured to the extremity of the shank 18 and extends through eyelets 24mounted on the handle 10, a suitable grip 25 being secured to the lowerend of the cord 23 adjacent the lower end of the handle 10.

In the use of the device, the basket is arranged immediately in front ofthe fruit on the tree by extending the handle upwardly into the branchesof the tree and a pull is then exerted on the cord 23, thus swinging thebasket forwardly toward the poke frame 11 so that the knife 22 of thebasket frame 16 will sever the stem of the fruit and the fruit will thendrop into the basket 20, it being readily seen that the basket is atthis time being carried forward and into position immediately over thehood 15 of the poke 14, thus causing the fruit to gravitate into thepoke, after which pressure is released on the cord 23 and thecontractile spring 21 will then return the basket 20 to initialposition, after which the basket is moved into position in front of thenext fruit that is to be severed from the tree.

It should be noted that the device described consists of few parts andby formin the poke frame 11 and basket frame 16 eac of a single piece ofmaterial and assembling the same in the manner mentioned, the device canbe cheaply manufactured, while at 1w the same time the device will bedurable and eflicient.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a fruit picker, the combination with a handle, of a poke framesupported thereon and consisting of a single plece of material bentupwardly and away from the handle and looped to form a knife, a pokecarried on the loo therefrom in parallel relation to the sai handle, abasket frame mounted to swing on the poke frame and bent upwardly andaway therefrom to lie outside of the longiof the frame and depending.

tudinal plane of the handle, a spring secured to the basket frame andhaving connection with the handle, and a cord ha connection with aprojecting portion of t e basket frame and depending between the handleand the oke for swinging the basket frame against the aotion'of thespringand into on gement with the poke frame.

testimony whereo I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

A. CISNE- Witnesses: C. E. Kmnmom, MARY FLYNN.

